Monday, December 24, 2012

Counting my blessings - again.

Christmas Eve seems like a suitable time to count my blessings. It's exactly four weeks since I slipped on a loose mat on my polished living room floor and broke my hip. Clearly, I'm not seeing this stupid accident as a blessing, but given that it happened, I have much for which to be grateful in its aftermath.

I'm grateful for the paramedics who came so promptly to my emergency call in the middle of the night and dealt with me with competence, compassion and good humour.

I'm grateful for the major teaching hospital that's my local hospital where they managed my pain until they could fit me into their busy surgery schedule. The wait was longer than I might have wished, but the surgery was done with competence and care.

I'm grateful for a medical service that enabled me to have expert surgery and a closely monitored stint in intensive care (because of some blood clotting) at no cost other than my taxes in previous years.

I'm grateful that I could afford additional private health insurance that has enabled me to have two weeks in a most civilised rehabilitation hospital with physio and hydrotherapy, as well as excellent medical supervision, to hasten my recovery.

I'm grateful that four weeks after the slip I have a brand new hip (because of some minor pre-existing osteo-arthritis a decision was made to replace rather than repair the hip) that is working extremely well. I have no pain and I'm already walking around the house independently and making small excursions outside with the help of a walking stick.

I'm grateful to my daughter who's taken time off work and interrupted her life to come and care for me on my return home.

And I'm particularly grateful to the many friends, from many parts of my life, who've made the time to visit, phone, send messages, and ply me with gifts of flowers, fruit, delicious snacks and even yarn. Not only the gifts, but the conversations that kept me in touch with all that was happening in the outside world have been greatly appreciated.

This evening I'm off to spend Noche Buena with old friends. I feel as if I'm slipping back into my life.

6 comments:

It has been a great relief to see you get on your feet again so quickly, and to watch the rapid improvement over the last few weeks. I'm extremely grateful it wasnt a whole lot worse (being such a close one and all!) and am looking forward to having you more actively amongst us again xx